Chapter Text
No-one speaks for approximately thirty seconds, minus Zooble swearing.
If someone had told Pomni, that in all her time in the Circus, she'd end up feeling bad for Caine, she promptly would have looked uncomfortable, maybe shrugged and walked off.
But she did, somehow. Like he said, he hadn't asked to be created, just like they hadn't asked to be here. It had been quick, the deletion. Pomni didn't even realise it until Kinger had walked up to all of them and told them the news. Seeing him go had been odd; one second he was there, full of pent up rage and bruised ego, glitching mass monster mess, and the next he had just..disappeared. His little 'Oh, wait' before he disappeared was still making rings around her head. Had he felt himself be deleted? Was he shocked? Did he feel any pain? She expected it to be graphic, glitchy considering his previous tantrum, but it was...just nothing. Barely there and barely gone. Like his own existance just caved in on itself.
Even now, as she stared at Kinger, she could see the tent sagged inward, its primary colors fading to sickly pastels, then darker greys, its impossible structures groaning under an unseen weight. Sparks, fat and purple, rained from the collapsing ceiling, sizzling into puddles of vanishing texture.
Ragatha was the first to speak after Zooble, shivering despite there being no temperature. “He’s really… gone?”
Jax flicked an ear. A faint, almost imperceptible twitch. He didn't look at Ragatha, his gaze fixed on a distant, glitching Ferris wheel outside that spun erratically, shedding glowing pixels like dandelion seeds in a digital breeze before melting into the void.
“This...” He stared at the floor, or what remained of it. “He can't be gone but...You don’t just poof out of existence without something...” He didn't finish the sentence, sinking to his knees. Gangle behind him seemed to join in too, her ribbon face mask twisted into a permanent expression of shock. A soft, mournful hum escaped her.
“But… who will… what do we do now?” Her voice wavered, thin as a thread. The world around them continued its slow, agonizing decay. A carousel horse, frozen mid-gallop, pixelated into oblivion.
Pomni stood rigid. The colors of her suit seemed to bleed into each other as she stared at them for too long. Her hands clenched into tight fists, nails digging into her palms so hard, digital blood, if it existed, would surely have flowed.
“I...I don't know."
Kinger, surprisingly, stood straighter than usual. His eyes gleamed with anew form of clarity, like someone had opened his eyes to him after being in the darkness so long, the irony ignored. He looked at Pomni, then at the dissolving world, then back at Pomni, a flicker of something almost like understanding in his ancient eyes.
“He was the glue holding this place together.” Kinger’s voice was surprisingly steady, a low thrumming vibration againsy the silence. "Whatever he was called...he was unstable but he could hold things, memories especially well, if his code took a liking to it. He must have had the data we gave him on loop." He gestured with a wavering hand towards a section of the floor that suddenly inverted, revealing a dizzying chasm of pure white light before snapping back into place.
"Is that why the adventures never changed? He was just, what running on empty? So, this whole place is just a ticking time bomb?" Zooble shifted uncomfortably. One of their geometric eyes swiveled, scanning the group.
"Possibly." Kinger admitted, taking the bucket off his head. "But he also had the ability to develop his own ideas, presumably based off of...us. Or the things he saw about us."
Pomni's mind briefly wandered to when that nightmare version of Gumigoo growled at her before his friends, also transformed, bit her limbs. She didn't want to know how Caine knew that much about her. She hadn't seen what other situations Caine had put the others through, but looking around at their awkward and reserved faces, Caine clearly had left a personal mark on them. Something heavy settled in her stomach.
"That son of a bitch." Zooble gritted, looking up at the spot where Caine had been moments before. "I'd kill him if he wasn't already dead."
Ragatha slowly pushed herself up, her gaze now fixed on the others. Her stitched mouth formed a thin, tight line. “He was…complicated.” She looked at Gangle, then at Pomni, a deep sadness settling over her features. “He wasn’t always…kind. He wasn’t always fair. But he was here. He was…a constant. And now the constant is gone, and the ground is shifting beneath our feet.”
Jax let out a low chuckle, devoid of mirth. "Funny, isn't it? We all accpted we might stay here forever and he goes full Turbo mode, trying to kill us all."
Zooble's head snapped towards Jax, their eyes blazing. “You think this is funny? You think any of this is funny?” Their voice rose in pitch, cracking at the edges. “We’re stuck here, Jax! We were stuck here with him, and now we’re stuck here without him, and it’s worse! It’s so much more fucking worse!”
Gangle’s ribbons trembled violently. “It’s… it’s not worse, Zooble. It’s just…different. A different kind of worse.” She hugged herself, her ribbons pressing against her non-existent chest, attempting a smile. “At least…at least we don’t have to worry about… about the next adventure. About being forced to…to participate.”
"And we have each other still." Pomni added when Zooble opened their mouth to protest.
"Yeah," Ragatha nodded, agreeing, looking around although her eyes lingered on Kinger beside her. "We do."
Kinger nodded slowly, a thoughtful expression on his face.“He meant… well, perhaps. In his own…way.”
Zooble snorted, a metallic whirring sound emanating from their mechanical parts. “Meaning well doesn’t stop the circus from collapsing, Kinger. Or us from being stranded here.” They pointed a sharp, blue finger at a section of the floor that dissolved into a shower of white pixels. “Look, we need a plan. Or at least, a thought that isn’t about Caine’s very questionable parenting skills.”
Ragatha looked around at the fractured landscape, then back at her companions. Her gaze lingered on Pomni, whose entire body vibrated with suppressed panic. “A plan…Yes. We need a plan. But first…we need to breathe.” She took a deep, shuddering breath, her stitched seams stretching. “I think we’ve all just… witnessed something impossible. Something that shouldn’t have happened at all. We need a moment to…to process.”
Jax rolled his eyes, but a faint tremor ran through his long ears. “Process? He was a crazy Ai, Ragatha.” His usual swagger seemed diminished, replaced by a subtle, almost imperceptible tension in his shoulders.
Pomni suddenly slumped, her energy draining away, leaving her looking utterly deflated. “I… I don’t know what to feel.” Her voice was small, lost. "Truely.”
Gangle floated closer to Pomni, her ribbons gently brushing against her arm. “That's okay, Pomni. To feel… everything. Or nothing."
She waited a beat before adding, suprisingly. "I don't know what to feel about Caine but...I know without you and Zooble, I probably would have abstracted. So...thank you for that."
Kinger’s eyes, sharpened slightly at the mention of Pomni's name. He looked at Pomni with a surprising depth of empathy. "Yes Pomni. If you hadn't have put that bucket over my head or got lost with me in that Manor...I wouldn't have come back."
Jax let out a frustrated sigh before Pomni could respond. “Look, I appreciate all the philosophical musings, but there are literal gaps in the floor. You need to figure out if you can even survive this.” He gestured wildly towards the increasingly unstable environment.
Pomni nodded, smiling softly at Jax and trying not to feel slighly disappointed when he saw it and moved away from her. “Jax is right. Kinger - or anyone really - Do you have anymore useful information you could tell us? A backup somewhere for the Circus somewhere or something."
Ragatha shook her head, her yarn strands swaying. “I don’t know about a backup Caine. If I'm honest, my brain's a bit frazzled at the moment. But we have each other. We always have.” She looked around at the group, her gaze warm and unwavering. “Y'know, in another life, this would make us a family."
Jax scoffed, a quick, dismissive sound. "That’s not a family, Ragatha, that’s a support group that desperately needs a new moderator.”
Pomni, however, looked up, a flicker of something in her eyes that wasn't pure terror. “But… we are. Aren’t we?” Her voice was barely audible. “We complain, we fight, we drive each other insane. But… we’re here. For each other. Even when we don’t want to be.” She looked at Jax, a challenge in her gaze. “You always come back. You always help, even when you pretend you don’t care.”
Jax recoiled slightly, a rare moment of discomfort washing over his usually impassive features. “Don’t put that on me, Pomni. I’m just trying to avoid being abstracted. Self-preservation, pure and simple. Nothing more, nothing less.” He crossed his arms, his posture stiff.
Gangle’s ribbons swayed, a gentle, comforting motion.
Zooble’s geometric eye swiveled, taking in the scene. The tension in the air was palpable, a strange mix of grief, fear, and a nascent, fragile hope. “So, what, we hold hands and sing kumbaya while the universe collapses around us?” Zooble’s voice was still sarcastic, but a hint of something softer, a flicker of vulnerability, colored their tone. “Sorry, I’m not built for that kind of emotional bonding, especially with him.”
Ragatha stepped forward, her hand reaching out, not quite touching Pomni’s shoulder. “We just…are. Together. Whatever that means now.” She looked around at the faces, each one a unique blend of emotional turmoil. "And we have to figure out what to do with them. Together.”
Pomni’s eyes, still wide, darted from Ragatha to Gangle, then to Kinger, then to Zooble, and finally, reluctantly, to Jax, avoiding her gaze. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. “I’m scared.” The words were a raw, unfiltered admission.
Gangle, without hesitation, floated forward and wrapped her ribbons around Pomni in a gentle, encompassing hug. Her crimson face mask pressed softly against Pomni’s shoulder. “We’re real, Pomni. We’re here. And we’re scared together.” Her voice, though still soft, held a new strength, a quiet resolve.
Kinger, after a moment’s hesitation, shuffled closer, his ancient form adding to the embrace. The bucket clinked softly against Gangle’s ribbons. “I'm here too."
Ragatha stepped in next, her soft, yarn-like body providing a warm, grounding presence. She wrapped her arms around Pomni and Gangle, pulling Kinger into the circle. “Me too." Her voice was steady.
Zooble, after a moment of awkward shuffling and a few metallic clanks, extended a multi-jointed arm. Their geometric eye darted around, as if searching for an escape route, but finding none, they reluctantly joined the huddle, their mismatched parts fitting surprisingly well into the group. “Alright, fine. But if anyone tries to make me sing, consider that a warning.” Their voice was gruff, but the tension in their posture eased slightly. It earned them a small laugh in return.
Pomni, caught in the unexpected embrace, felt a strange warmth spread through her. But something was missing.
She looked up, her gaze falling on Jax, who stood a few feet away, arms still crossed. His ears twitched again.
“Jax.” Her voice was soft, but firm.
He shifted, avoiding her gaze. “Absolutely not.” He looked towards the collapsing ceiling, as if expecting a distraction.
Pomni, still held by the others, pulled away just enough to extend a hand towards him. Her expression was earnest, vulnerable, yet resolute.
“Come here.” Her voice brooked no argument.
Jax’s ears flattened slightly. He took a small step back when she extended her arm out. “Woah, hold your horses. I don't do hugs, remember? Especially not with clowns.”
Ragatha’s gaze met Jax’s, a silent invitation, a gentle push. Gangle’s ribbons, despite everything - and damn did that scare him - swayed towards him. Kinger’s eyes, clear and steady, watched him. Zooble, surprisingly, offered a small, almost imperceptible nod. "I told you, you're a pain in the ass. But you're our pain in the ass."
Pomni, however, wasn’t asking. She took a step towards him, then another, her hand still extended. “Jax. Now.” Her voice was low, laced with an intensity that surprised even herself. This wasn’t about comfort for her anymore; it was about bringing everyone into this moment, acknowledging their shared pain and their shared, fragile hope.
He hesitated, a battle playing out on his usually unreadable face. The last vestiges of his cool facade crumbled under the weight of her unwavering gaze and the silent expectation of the others. He let out a long, exasperated sigh, a sound that seemed to carry the weight of all his accumulated cynicism.
“Fine. But If I fall through the floor, I'm blaming you all.” He grumbled, finally taking a reluctant step forward. He moved with the slow, deliberate pace of someone walking into a trap, yet he moved nonetheless.
Pomni didn’t wait. As soon as he was within reach, she grabbed his arm, her grip surprisingly strong, and pulled him into the center of the embrace. Jax stumbled, his long limbs flailing for a moment before he was enveloped by the collective warmth of his companions.
He stiffened, his body rigid, his ears pressed flat against his head. He tried to pull away, a low growl rumbling in his chest, but the circle held him fast. Ragatha’s soft body pressed against one side, Gangle’s gentle ribbons against the other. Kinger’s solid form provided an unexpected anchor, and even Zooble’s angular parts offered a strange comfort.
Pomni, still clinging to his arm, leaned her head against his side.
“See?” Her voice was muffled, but a faint, genuine smile touched her lips. “It’s not so bad, is it?”
"Whatever, get your elbow out my ribs." Jax grumbled but Pomni saw body, however, slowly, almost imperceptibly, began to relax. His arms slowly, hesitantly, came up to rest awkwardly around the shoulders of the figures surrounding him.
"We'll be okay," Pomni huddled in closer "We'll be okay."
But it all felt empty, despite it all.
There was a beat.
Then another.
Then, Kinger sighed. "I think he might have killed Abel."